Thank you for the arc, unfortunately I did not finish it, I just wasn't the right audience for this book.

This book started out pretty strong. I really liked Sora, the main character, and I liked that this story was not, in fact, about the chosen one. I also really enjoyed the Japanese setting. It's not something that is seen often in YA, I loved the Japanese folklore!

However, the more I read the more my excitement dwindled. I wasn't very overly fond of any of the other characters that were introduced and I didn't love the romance subplot. I found that once the main characters started hunting down the sacred items, the book got repetitive. Also, wasn't a fan of the "love conquers all" ending.
like i said, the book wasn't bad. the action was interesting but it wasn't something that would keep you excited but it was enough to keep me going. another plus was that it wasn't dull either.

A Mortal Song is a non-Western story that would have worked, if it had been nuanced and by an #ownvoices author. This Asian-coded story would've been handled better and more accurately if it had been written by an Asian author, or if this non-Asian author had done extensive amount of research and consultation with Asian folks to write this story. It would've been much more enjoyable and culturally accurate, and for that it needs to be nuanced.

My ship sank. Hard. Like Titanic hard. I know this makes me sound like an entitled first-worlder, but this has never happened to me before and I am kind of shell-shocked. The ending could have gone perfectly, but then it didn't. And I am sad, because the story up to that point worked for me.

Well, I'm not overly well-versed in Japanese mythology and culture, but despite the author taking seven years to research it, I think she needed to put in a few more years... There were no honorifics and a few reviewers were absolutely scathing in their breakdown of what was wrong with the mythology. I can't discuss it as intelligently as those reviewers, so I highly recommend you look at the 1 star reviews that are very long and you will get the picture.

That being said, it didn't bother me too much, but I am not a student of that mythology, nor do I belong to that culture, so my lack of knowledge probably helped me to enjoy the book more than someone who is more versed in the topic and culture.

However, my ship sank and I am ANGRY. The guy she ended up with was a moron at best and deceitful at worst.
Not like the other guy, who legit couldn't be anything other than loyal. SIGH!

I also think seeing some of the MC's childhood growing up on Mt. Fuji with her parents and her kami friends and guard would have given a bit more depth to the MC. The characters were somewhat not as fully-fleshed out as I would have liked them to be, but it wasn't too bad. Chiyo's parents in Tokyo were kind of stupid though, which irked me.

Trigger warning, violence, blood and gore and a few very violent deaths. Only a few kisses. YA and up.

End result? 3, if the ending and the ship that sailed were different this wouldn't be three stars right now, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Another World Press for an eARC copy of this book.

A Mortal Song was a unique but ultimately middling fantasy that I honestly wouldn't have missed if I hadn't read it.

I've found a lot of books that have this great concept but the execution doesn't always line up. That's how I felt about this book. It shocked me a bit by taking the typical story of a character discovering they're [insert magical or supernatural being here] and turned it around. Sora thought she was special but learns she's actually just a normal human. Additionally, Sora doesn't get to be the Chosen One. She gets to help the Chosen One instead which, again, flips things around a bit. Loved the concept and the Japan setting too since I don't see that as often.

But the book lost me after that. The romance was an unconvincing love triangle and I wasn't really invested in any of the characters enough for it to make an impact on the story for me. Additionally, I felt that the world building to set up this fantastical setting was a bit lacking and could have been expanded on, especially with the premise.

I liked A Mortal Song well enough but I wasn't full sold on it as a whole.

A Mortal Song was very easy to follow and had interesting plot and characters.
Many thanks to Netgalley and publisher

I tried to read this book but couldn't get through it. I stopped after about 50 pages. It had a bit too much fantasy in it for me.

I found it difficult to get past the first few chapters, could just be the wrong moment, however, I did not finish.

Filled with diversity and mythology, this book was a breath of fresh air.

THE SETTING:

This story takes place in modern day Japan, but with magical and mythological elements woven into the story. I love reading stories that are set in Japan! I’m very interested in the culture and mythology of that place. So seeing both portrayed within this book was amazing! I loved seeing kami and their interactions with humans and humanity in general. I definitely need to puck up more books that are set in Japan!

THE CHARACTERS:

The characters within this story were very fascinating. I loved that we got to see the difference between the human characters and the kami characters, as the story progressed. It was very interesting seeing how similar they are to each other and yet how different.

The main character of this story and the character whose perspective we follow is Sora. She was such an amazing character and definitely my favourite within this story. She was so strong and brave – I simply loved her for it. She was also very flawed and I enjoyed that about her a lot as well – it made her feel a lot more real. She grew throughout the story and learned from her mistakes. She was simply a delight to read about.

The other characters were interesting as well, but none stood out to me as much as Sora. Though I do have to say that I liked all the characters, each one felt unique in their own way and they grew on me as the story progressed.

THE STORY:

The story and pacing were very well done, in my opinion. There were many twists and turns, some of which I expected (I actually guessed one of the main ones) and some which I didn’t. I very much enjoyed reading the adventure of Sora and seeing her, and her friends, struggles throughout the book.

My biggest problem with this story was the romance. I just felt that it was unnecessary and the story would have been absolutely fine without it. I don’t feel that the romance brought anything to the story, rather it distanced me from the book from time to time. This would have been a lot better were it simply a story about an adventure. The friendships in this story were amazing! I loved seeing how much each character cared about the others, it was simply amazing to read about.

OVERALL:

This book was really fun to read! The characters were amazing, Sora’s development throughout the story impressed me a lot. The romance within this book was simply unnecessary and it was the biggest problem that I had with it. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

I'm a sucker for Japanese culture in novels, as well as Japanese mythology, and add in the fact that our heroine isn't the person destined for greatness...this book was definitely worth a shot. I did enjoy it but I didn't love it.

“A Mortal Song” by Megan Crewe has been, in all honesty, one of the best—if not the best—books I’ve read this year! Sora’s journey was unique, intense and very personal because her home (Mt. Fuji) and its people were under attack and because in the end, she wasn’t who or what she’d thought she was all her life—a kami. Something I loved about this story was our main character’s struggle with accepting the reality of who and what she was—a human—and why. Crewe’s writing was fantastic throughout the whole book! It was so good and well-paced that you could easily understand what’s happening and learn about the kami, the ghosts, the demons and all the other supernatural stuff that’s mentioned through the book and the reason behind their doings. And most importantly, you get to connect with Sora and the rest of the main characters and feel why this journey is so important and interesting. The setting for this story was Japan and I loved everything about it. We went from the beautiful and peaceful Mt. Fuji palace and its mountains to modern day Tokyo full of vibrant lights, power and energy is search of Mt. Fuji’s true heiress. But no matter what part of Japan you were in, through Sora’s journey you get to see how Mt. Fuji’s energy flows through it all and how everything is connected. And I also loved the diversity of mythical and supernatural creatures we got to encounter on our little search for the real heiress and the instruments she’ll need to fight off the demon and the ghosts that took over Mt. Fuji.

Besides our wonderful main character named Sora, we also get to meet her companion and loyal guard named Takeo, her loyal companion Midori, a human named Keiji, Mt. Fuji’s heiress, a sage called Rin—who told them about the prophecy and the truth about Sora and her parents, and many other characters that don’t just take part on Sora’s journey to save Mt. Fuji and it’s people but also on her personal journey of self-acceptance and self-growth. They all did a great job playing their parts and that's why this is one of those few books where I loved all of the characters!

In the end, I really enjoyed the story that came to life through “A Mortal Song” from beginning to end! Why? Because I loved everything about it, especially the fact that this wasn’t just a journey to save Japan and Mt. Fuji, but also a personal growth journey for every single one of the characters, and the mythological and supernatural themes it had that included: the kami, the ghosts, the demons, the ogres and many of the other creatures we get to encounter as they look for the instruments Mt. Fuji’s heiress will need to defeat the demon that took over her palace.

A Mortal Song is an interesting book with Chosen One trope twist. It also have deeper meaning by reflecting in human limitations, and pretty spot on (from what I know) of Japanese culture. But with so many actions, revelations and plot happening, this book doesn’t have enough space to expand the stories, thus it felt underdeveloped. I never felt any attachment to the characters, and the ending is also very anticlimatic. But, if you’re looking for book with good Japanese culture representation and a quick read, this book is for you.

So, I wanted to like this more than I did, but that said, it wasn't bad. I thought the Japanese culture side was handled well, which I enjoyed. I liked the way the story focused more on the not-chosen one.

However, the characters felt kind of generic to me, and I found myself getting bored. I skimmed towards the end and just wasn't invested.

Basically, your mileage may vary with this one, since it seems a fair amount of people liked it and I was reading and ARC. It reminded me a little of Ink, what with the setting and kami and all, but I liked Mortal Song better.

This book is beautifully written and the story is well developed and quite unique. I guessed some plot points but was still surprised on other plot development.

What brought down the rating was the fact that I thought that it sometimes tried a little bit too hard. I am a massive fan of japanese culture and so I found myself a little disappointed in the briefness some aspects are covered. I get that not all readers will know everything about the culture before hand, but if you expect a super cultural it's not quiet that.
Also the romance aspect bugged me a bit.